Vets forgotten?

Former Toronto Sun newsroom vet Sean McCann writes:

"Reading about Greg Weston's ouster reminded me of something. It was a Bono column way back when.

As only Bonokoski can do, he wrote about the photos on the Toronto Press Club wall. All great journalists, but where are they remembered now asked Bono?

It was a great question and made me think.

The new generations will never remember the names of the people who brought "freedom of the press" to their doors, to their lives. The battles that they fought.

It's a sad passing actually. All folks have today is the spin.

The so-called citizen journalism reminds me of a bunch of guys in a bar expressing their opinions over numerous beers, their uninformed, not-vetted opinions.

Sad, actually, that all of us don't know the men and women whose pix graced the walls of the now-defunct Toronto Press Club. Having said that, mind you, not sure if there were may women's pix there. So we have come a ways.

Anyway, the world goes around. Change happens. But as Bono said is his column, they were the pioneers. Sadly though, who remembers them now?"

Know what you mean, Sean.

It takes story tellers like Bono to refresh the memory and recall tales of newsroom giants and how they mentored many a young reporter in need of plaudits when warranted and criticism when needed.

We have a lot of Canadian news legends in mind and all were newspaper people to the core, not ex politicians, ad salesmen and corporate shills.

These legends were to print media what Robert Mitchum, Kirk Douglas, Richard Widmark and Robert Ryan were to the big screen - tall in the saddle.

Pity the j-student who will never be mentored by the likes of Doug MacFarlane, Clark Davey, Gwyn "Jocko" Thomas, Jim Vipond, George Gross, Bob Vezina, Mike Burke-Gaffney, Robert Turnbull, Doug Creighton, Les Pyette, Ed Monteith and many others from the past decades.

It would be interesting to hear from TSF readers who have their own news legends in mind.

SONG & points

SONG president Brad Honywill has words of caution for non-union Sun Media employees in a new blog posting about newsroom performance points.

Honywill says "Sun Media has embarked on a chain-wide project to measure the productivity of its employees that, in a journalistic environment, is both chilling for employees and potentially damaging to the business."

His lengthy look at newsroom performance points includes this comment:

"Thankfully, Sun employees who are protected by a union don’t have to fear losing their jobs, or suffering some other kind of punishment if they find themselves on the south side of a benchmark. Non-union employees may not be so lucky."

Worth a read.

London -12

Sun Media is pulling the plug on its London print/online edition of the Pennysaver Smart Shopper at a cost of seven sales jobs and five pressroom jobs.

The Friday advertiser will cease publication by Oct. 22, says a brief story in today's London Free Press.

The story says the seven sales people "will be given every opportunity for employment elsewhere in the company as it becomes available."

The key word there would be "available."

The Southern Ontario Newsmedia Guild website says five pressroom employees have also been laid off.

The new-and-improved SONG site says: "The London Free Press has announced the closure of its Pennysaver Smart Shopper publication, directly affecting seven jobs in advertising and contributing to the layoff of five people in the pressroom Thursday morning."

Online job

Sun Media is looking for an overnight online editor for its canoe.ca and Sun websites, a job that probably requires several people to manage efficiently.

But Sun Media has taken multi-tasking to new levels on almost every job level across the chain, so here's the rundown for the overnight online editor's job:

"We are seeking an enthusiastic and well-­‐rounded online editor to manage content on Canoe.ca, as well as Sun Media’s newspaper websites overnight.

"Reporting to the general manager of online editorial, this person will work closely with the national online editors and the various markets to meet the chain’s online editorial needs.

"The position is located in Toronto.

"Responsibilities will include programming fresh and compelling content, copy editing, fact checking and some writing. Applicants should understand the web, be passionate about news, sports and entertainment, able to spot the top stories and give them appropriate treatment.

"The successful candidate will be a creative and quick-­‐thinking team player who can work independently under pressure.

"Qualifications include:
• A journalism degree or diploma
• Excellent news judgment
• Strong organizational, editing and writing skills
• Knowledge of CP style, editorial best practices and libel law"

Application deadline is Friday, Aug. 13.

What do you think, $75,000 to $100,000 a year minimum?

Bono update

A TSF tipster says Mark Bonokoski, who agreed to write anonymous editorials until Labour Day, is on vacation until Aug. 10.

That doesn't explain removal of his name from the masthead for two consecutive days.

So he's not the national editorial writer while on vacation? Will publisher Mike Power's name be removed when he is on vacation?

Don't be messing with our Bono. He is a treasured Sun vet.

Just asking . . .

Was the tractor-trailer that was gutted by fire in an accident out London way on Tuesday carrying Sun Media papers?

The London Free Press story doesn't say, but a TSF tipster seems to think so.

Masthead -Bono

Mark Bonokoski's name was missing from the Toronto Sun's Comment section masthead on Wednesday.

We don't know why "Mark Bonokoski National Editorial Writer" was missing, but we can only hope it means the Sun vet is returning to column writing, where he belongs.

The layout of the masthead makes it doubtful his name was dropped in a computer glitch, but anything is possible so we'll see if it returns to the masthead on Thursday.

If not . . .

Bonokoski is a master storyteller and since his shift to anonymous editorial writing in June, TSF readers have asked if he was still at the Sun.

If you don't read the masthead, you wouldn't know.

Readers miss his award-winning columns. That is his forte and has been on and off for three decades.

As James Wallace, editor in chief, said in June in announcing Bono's summer "hiatus" from column writing:

"Bono's made a career out of writing stories that make a difference and matter to our readers - from a recent column on an elderly woman forced from her apartment in Keele-Lawrence by fumes from a crack-smoking neighbour to his ground-breaking series on the profound difficulties facing some of Canada's urban aboriginal peoples."

Exactly.

Stay tuned.

The 2 Westons

Google Greg Weston these days and you will find two Canadian journalists - Sun Media's recently ousted veteran political columnist and a New Brunswick political columnist.

We're not sure if our Greg Weston ever crossed paths with the other Greg Weston, but it is ironic both journalists are politics-oriented.

The Sun's Greg Weston spent 10 years faithfully covering federal politics and was Sun Media's senior national affairs columnist when ousted last week.

New Brunswick's Greg Weston is the Legislature reporter for the Times & Transcript, the province's largest daily newspaper and based in Moncton.

The Times & Transcript - the product of a 1983 merging of the Moncton Times and the Moncton Transcript - has a circulation of about 40,000.

Fans of the Ontario-based Greg Weston are hoping his absence from published political analysis will be brief.

There is room for two Greg Westons at the keyboards.

Say what?

A TSF reader up Sudbury way says Sun Media editors must have been sleeping at the wheel with this story.

The July 24 Sudbury Star story is about a Timmins event scheduled for July 18.

Better late than never? Not in this case.

The tipster said: "I want to share with you a clipping from last Saturday's Sudbury Star. I don't know how it happened, but my hometown paper ran an advancer for an event that had occurred a week earlier - and in another city.

"Could this be the product of overworked editors, or out-of-town paginators?"

Cartoonists 2010

If you are a seasoned fan of editorial cartoons and have about an hour to spare, highly recommend this recent speech by Chan Lowe at a Williams College reunion in Massachusetts.

Lowe, with more than 9,000 published cartoons, has been the first and only South Florida Sun Sentinel cartoonist for 26 years and is syndicated through Tribune Media Services.

The cartoonist/blogger blames economics for the decline in full-time American daily newspaper cartoonists - from more than 200 in 1975 to about 55.

Lowe gives a nod to Canada's editorial cartoonists and we had Sun Media's Andy Donato and Susan Dewar in mind when he said: "To me, a cartoonist is supposed to elicit a response from readers. Otherwise, what is he doing wasting everybody's time, including his own?"

And then he acknowledges the two or three female cartoonists in the male-dominated profession.

It is a fascinating insight into the mind of an award-winning editorial cartoonist.